Melbourne Storm prostitute Brandon Smith allegedly called umpire Adam Gee a “trap” and caused the complainant to sting the Hectic Cheese for dissent.
As a result of Cronulla’s impressive victory in the first four clash at Shark Park on Thursday night, Smith was referred to the NRL for misconduct.
Play all matches of each round of the 2022 season of the NRL Telstra Premiership live and without advertising during the game in Kayo. Are we Kayo? Start your free trial now>
Melbourne Press Conference | 06:04
As the storm recorded consecutive losses for the second time this season, Smith forced referee Gee to take the unusual step of sending him to the trash while Melbourne was in possession of the ball and awarding a penalty to Cronulla.
A frustrated Smith was protesting with the referee after the Sharks had been able to dominate the ruck by slowing down the ball game.
Then, Smith also had a verbal confrontation with a Sharks fan and went up the players’ tunnel to PointsBet Stadium before being ushered into Storm’s locker room.
“I don’t want to repeat what I said,” Smith said after the game.
Sharks shock slow storm | 01:51
Storm coach Craig Bellamy was biting his tongue after the game, but it was clear the coach, a three-time Premier League winner, would not tolerate Smith’s brain break.
“I don’t know exactly what was said out there, but obviously we don’t want our players to show this kind of disrespect to the referees.
“I don’t know why I would say anything. We don’t want that and it won’t happen again.”
Smith sought referee Gee after the match to apologize.